Garden Design Principles and the Extensive Use of Water Elements in Villa d’ Este, Tivoli, Italy

Abstract Villa d'Este in Tivoli is regarded as one of the most substantial examples of Renaissance culture and garden art owing to its palace and garden. Villa d'Este has always set a model and influenced the development of European gardens as being one of the first miracle gardens. Drains, tunnels and conduits diverted the Aniene waters in many points in Roman time both to supply water to villa ‘gardens and public palaces and to explode waterfalls to supply motive energy mills. Accordingly, Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este and Pirro Ligorio designed a project naturally to divert the Aniene waters and to bring them to Villa d’Este and to visualize the garden as a hill crossed by many underground tunnels and passages as it is in Tivoli’s. In this study, the history, design, constructional characteristics and the layout scheme of Villa d’Este situated in Tivoli, as the garden of Italian Renaissance Period was analyzed. Having a significant cultural landscape value with regards to the usage of water, including the variety of water usage methods (fountain, grotto, cascade and pool), the water features within Villa d’Este garden will be examined in the studies; thus, explaining each and every water structure in detail.